Lubrizol delivers the right testing, technology and credentials
Major investment to better serve customers
Lubrizol Additives, a business segment of The Lubrizol Corporation, announces continued enhancements to its global research and testing capabilities to better serve the needs of its worldwide customer base. Recent and ongoing improvements to its existing network of technical facilities will help the company deliver the right balance of advanced testing and technical capabilities to meet the needs of worldwide demand.
In the past three years, Lubrizol has invested more than $35m capital to support R&D and testing activities, with another $50m budgeted for the next three years. This is in addition to extensive capital investment in operations, which includes more than $200m for a new plant in China.
Wickliffe technical centre
Chemical synthesis and applied sciences laboratories at Lubrizol’s Wickliffe facility – site of the largest technical centre and world headquarters of Lubrizol Additives and The Lubrizol Corporation – are undergoing extensive modernisation. New laboratory spaces conform with industry best practices in order to deliver results faster and more efficiently, while encouraging collaboration and innovation, all to achieve the best products and solutions for customers.
The renovation began in 2007 and is proceeding in stages with the final phase to be completed by the fourth quarter 2012. Ultimately, up to 100 researchers and scientists will be based in these advanced facilities.
Hazelwood technical centre
Significant investments are underway at Lubrizol’s global technical centre in Hazelwood, UK. These investments include recently completed major upgrades of chemical testing laboratories as well as ongoing improvements to the Hazelwood chemical synthesis facility. In the past decade, the size of the chemical synthesis team at Hazelwood has nearly doubled, pushing existing synthesis capacity to saturation point. In order to ensure efficient chemical synthesis and superior customer service, Lubrizol has made investments in infrastructure and equipment, including the acquisition of state-of-the-art nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) capabilities on site. NMR spectroscopy is one of the principal techniques used to obtain physical, chemical, electronic and structural information about molecules. The NMR suite in Hazelwood will accelerate the development of new molecules and provide faster analysis in problem solving.
Many updates to the Hazelwood technical facility will be complete by the end of this year, with further extensive upgrades anticipated in the next two years. “We’re very excited about a new field testing centre that will soon support the more than one million kilometres of data gathered every week globally in the field on Lubrizol products,” notes Phil Shore, Lubrizol vice president of testing. “Beginning later this year, we are also expanding our laboratory blend room capabilities. Yet another example of how we continue to invest in our research and testing capabilities.”
Kinuura technical centre
Updates to blending and testing service capabilities at Lubrizol Japan Ltd.’s technical facility in Kinuura, Japan are recently complete. New equipment and laboratory services improve the value that Lubrizol provides for its customers and OEMs throughout Japan and other regions of Asia. New viscometers and friction and shear stability testing equipment are among the improvements that help optimise the high quality of service provided. Likewise, comprehensive field testing equipment is now integrated into the modernised facility.
These and other best-in-class technical facilities will be linked as part of Lubrizol’s global R&D and testing capabilities with access to Lubrizol’s advanced computer network, providing immediate, 24-hour access to global data. Phil Shore summarises, “These significant investments in our overall laboratory capabilities are key because they allow us to collaborate, share results and improve the quality and efficiency of our work. And the fact that our first-class laboratory capabilities are truly global in scope also allows us to provide timely and valuable assistance for our customers, wherever they are located.”
